Typewriting machine



J. WALDHEIM TYPEWRITING MACHINE June 16, 1925. Y

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 17,' 1921 June 16, I925. 1,542,194

J. WALDHEIM TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed June 17, 1921 3-Sheets-Sheet 2 June 16, 1925.

J. WALDHEIM TYPEWRITING MACHINE med June 17, 1921 '5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 1 6, 1925.

' UNITED STATES 1,542,194 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WALDHEIM, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY,'ASSIGNOR TO UNDEBWOOD TYPE- WRITER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 01 DELAWARE.

TYPEWBITING MACHINE.

Application filed June 17, 1921. Serial No. 478,281.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WALDHEIM, a citizen of the United States, residing in Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in connection with sound-deadening casings or hoods for typewriting machines, the hood being of the same general type as that disclosed in the co-pending application of B.

G. Stickney, Serial No. 429,617, filed December 10, 1920 now Patent No. 1,519,224, dated December 16, 1924, and comprises a sound deadening casing or hood for enclosing the noise-producing parts of a typewriting machine while the character keys project from the casing or hood the line-space handle, the carriage-return handle, and the carriage-release handle projecting through a slot in the casing and between slot-closing means extending along said slot, so that the platen may be rotated and the carriage released and returned from the exterior of the easing.

The casing is especially constructed for use in connection with machines mounted on the swingable base forming part of a drop-head desk, wherein the machine may be lowered to the interior of the desk, when not in use, by swinging upwardly a leaf or table out of the desk, but which forms a part of the desk top when swung upwardly. As is well known, the machine-supporting base in a desk of this type is set some distance below the top of the desk, the latter surrounding the base and the machine which it supports at the back and sides thereof, but not at the front, thus giving uninterrupted access to the base at the front of the desk.

One feature of the present invention is to provide a hood with an opening in the back-wall and a releasable cover plate at said opening to enable the hood to he slid over the machine from the front. This is of special advantage when used with a machineon a drop-head desk, so that the hood may be slid along the base from the unobstructed front. The front wall of the body part of the hood is provided with a cut-out large enough to clear the keyboard section of the machine and the usual linelock release-key and ribbon-color shift-keys. Another feature of the invention relates to. improved means, comprising a single finger- 160; for securing the releasable plate on the Another feature relates to means to estabhsh the position of the machine on the base upon which it stands, said means comprising metal plates to be engaged by the feet of the mac ine, said plates being located in holes in the base into which the feet of the machlne may readily be inserted.

It is anot er feature of this invention to provide means whereby the sound-deadening casing and the machine may be held firmly attached to each other, and means to prevent them from slipping back when the base is swung so as to lower the type-writing maplhnlie and the casing to the interior of the Still another feature of this invention is the rovision of novel means for efiectivel closing the slot of the casing through which various handles project from the typewriter carriage, to increase its resistance to wear, which is caused by the travelin of the carriage-release handle when the Tatter is depressed. For this purpose, there is provided a cushion strip and a co-operating yieldably-mounted bar directly opposed to said cushion and in engagement therewith, the carriage-releasehandle-projecting between said strip and bar and pressing the latter when operated.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention applied to an Underwood standard typewriting machine mounted on the base of a drop-head desk.

' Figure 2 is a fragmentary rear view, showing the slot-closing means at the front of the machine.

Figure 3 is a vertical view of the device shown in Figure 1, with all of the desk, except the machine-supporting base, omitted.

Figure 4 is a rear view of the casing, showing the removable back plate.'

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view of ]the means for holding the casing on the ase.

Figure 6 is a detail, showing one of the cups for holding the feet Of thetypewriting machine. 1

Figure 7 is a section taken on the line 77 of Figure 3, and shows the means for positioning the machine within the cas ng.

The Underwood standard typewriting machine comprises a main frame 10 and a forward extension 11 of the main frame, in which are positioned banks of keys 12, said keys being carried at the forward ends of key-levers 13, which, when depressed, operate bell-cranks 1 1 to swing type-bars 15 upwardly and rearwardly and cause types 16, carried thereby, to strike against a platen 17 at the printing point. Said platen is fixed upon a shaft or axle 23, journaled 1n the end walls 18 of a platen-frame 19 mounted in a carriage 20, having letter-feeding movement, on front and rear rails 21 and 22, fixed to the main frame 10. The platen may be rotated by a knob or finger-wheel 25 fixed to the end of the shaft 23, or by the usual line-spacing mechanism, of which only the line-space handle 26 is shown. The carriage is provided with the usual pointer 27 operating over scale 28, and may be returned to the right by a finger-piece 29 fixed thereto, or released from the letter-feeding mechanism by a carriage-release lever or handle 30.

The main frame 10 comprises four posts 31, which are provided at their lower ends with rubber feet 32, which rest on metal disks having downwardly-pressed prongs 36, by which the disks are fixed to a base, said disks being in the form of cups to be entered by said feet to aid in positioning the 1 machine on said base. In the present instance, in order to deaden the sound more effectually, the cups are mounted on a pad of felt 37, which, in turn, may be fastened to a swingable base 38 of a typewriter desk 40 by means to be hereinafter described.

The felt pad 37 forms the immediate base, upon which the sound-deadening casing or hood is mounted, in order to seal the lower edges of the hood against escape of sound. By referring to Figure 1, it will be seen that base 38 lies below the top 12 of desk 40, the machine being set below the top for greater convenience in typing, so that the desk surrounds the base at the sides and the rear, but not at the front. The sounddeadening casing or hood may, therefore, be slid along the base or felt pad 37 and onto the machine from the front thereof, without encountering any obstruction and without requiring the casing to be lowered vertically. The typewriting machine, therefore, enters the casing through the rear thereof. To permit the casing to be mounted in this manner, it comprises a cover part 51 hingedly connected at the rear to a body part 52 (Figure 3), said body part comprising a front wall 53, formed preferably integral with side walls 5 1 and a rear wall 55 extending upwardly a distance above the highest point of the typew'riting machine, and provided with an opening 56 (Figure 4) large enough to permit passage of the machine therethrough, said opening being closed by a releasable back plate 56. The latter is readily fixed upon, or removed from, the rear wall 55, the back plate being provided with hooks 57 (Figures 4 and 7) adjacent one side edge which engage in slots 58 in the rear wall for mounting the back plate on the wall, said plate being locked to said wall by a slidable latch or bolt 60 mounted on the plate adjacent the other side edge, and having fingers 61 engaging in openings in projections 62 fixed to the rear wall and passing through slots in the back plate. The latch 60 is slidably mounted on the back plate by means of headed studs 63 fixed to the plate and operating in longitudinal slots 64 in the latch, so that the latch may be operated upwardly and downwardly by a finger-piece 65, the upward movement of latch 60 operating to withdraw fingers 61 from engagement with projections 62, to permit the latter to be withdrawn from the slots in the back plate, so that said plate may be swung rearwardly and lifted off the rear wall by withdrawing hooks 57 from slots 58.

With the back plate 56 removed, the one ing is slid along base 38 and pad 37, the forward extension "11 of the main frame entering the rear of the casing, and the latter being moved rearwardly until the forward posts 31 of the main frame contact with abutments or locating devices fixed to the front wall of the casing, the forward extension 11 projecting forwardly through an opening in the front wall 53. The back plate is then applied in the manner described above, the machine being held firmly between the abutments 70, fixed to the front wall of the casing and contacting with the forward posts 31 of the main frame, and abutments 71 carried by the back plate and contacting with the rear posts 31 of the main frame.

The typewriter carriage is free to operate to the right or left, the body part of the casing being provided with right and left extensions 7 5 over which the carriage travels, the cover part 51 being of suflicient length to co-operate with the upper edges of the body part, including the extensions. The cover part comprises end walls 76, co-operating with the side edges of extensions 75, a rear wall 77 by which it is hingedly connected to the rear wall 55 of the body part, a forwardly-extending and downwardlyinelined ceiling 78 provided with a transparent plate 79 for permitting the typewriting within the casing to be viewed, and a short front wall 80 terminating some distance above the upper edge of front wall 53, so as to leave a longitudinal slot at the front of the machine. Through this slot project the line-space handle 26, carriagelever 30, so as to permit ordinary operation of the machine without necessitating raising of the cover. It is necessary, however, to close all of the slot not actually occupied by these finger-pieces, in order to prevent transmission of sounds therethrough. For this purpose, two\co-o rating members 81 and 82 are provided, tli: former being mounted on the front wall of the cover, and the latter on the front wall'53 of the body part.

Member 81 comprises a fold or cushion 83 of sound-deadening material, such as plush, felt or soft leather, the upper edges of the fold bein clamped between two bars 84 and 85, bolt together to form a single unit, which is mounted on the front wall 80. Cooperating with cushion 83, to close the slot, is a bar 86 in, engagement with said cushion and directl opposed thereto. As heretofore descri ed, the various carriage-oper-' ating levers project through the slot 90, between cushion 83 and bar 86, and, to permit downward movement of the carriage-release lever, bar 86 must .be yieldably mounted. For this purpose, bar 86 may be mounted for bodily movement in a vertical direction by a parallel linkage, which may be like that disclosed in my co-pending application, No. 466,820, filed May 4, 1921, and may comprise bell-cranks 87, one near each end of the bar, said bell-cranks being interconnected by a link 88 and pivoted at 89 to brackets 91, fixed to the front wall 53 of the body art of the casing. A return-spring 92 for t e bar 86 is connected between one of the brackets 91 and the link 88. Bar 86 is preferably of rigid material, because it is subject to, much wear due to the contact therewith of the carriage-release lever, which is pressed against and slides along the bar. A stop 94 on the bell-crank 87 engages one end of a hole 94 in the bracket 91 to limit the return movement of the bar 86.

To guide the hood laterally when it is being slipped over the machine, there are provided guide-bars 93 at the sides of the hood, said guide-bars being secured by screws 93 which pass through the felt pad 37 and into the base 38. The hood is thus guided,sothat it may properly engage with abutments or brackets 100 secured to the base by screws 100", said abutmcnts engaging just outside the limits of the back plate 56, so as not to interfere with the attaching of said plate, which is done after the hood has been located by the abutments. Felt pieces 101 may be interposed between brackets 100 and the rear wall 55 to absorb any vibration.

lVhen the base is tilted to lower the machine and the hood into the desk, they are held from sliding rearwardly on the base 38 by the brackets 100. It is also desirable to prevent .the forward part of the hood from swinging away from the base For this urpose, each side of the hood is provid WIbh a rejection or pin 97, said pins engaging un er forwardly-pro'ecting finers 93 on the forward ends 0 the guidears93. v

Since the hood may become accidentally displaced on the base while the latter is in its horizontal position, it is desirable to provide means to guard against such displacement, and, consequently retain the pins 97 in engagement with the fingers 93". For this purpose, there are pivotally mounted, near the forward ends of the guide-bars 93, latches 95 to enga e the pins 97 and hold them under the ngers 93". The latches are formed at the forward ends of pivoted bell-crank-levers 96, said latches being operable by finger-pieces 99 and move must the tension of springs 98. With this arrangement it will be understood that, in order to release the hood from the base, it is merely necessa to push the finger-pieces rearwardly until the latches 95 disengage the pins 97 when the hood may be drawn forwardly. On the other hand, when attaching the hood to the base, it is merely necessary to push the hood rearwardly until I typist.

While the casing is being slid over the machine, the cover may be held slightly raised, so as to permit the line-space handle 26, the carriage-return handle 29 and the carriage-release handle 30 to extend through the slot 90 at the front of the casing. Interrupted movement of the hood by the slotclosing bar 86 is prevented while it is being slid over the machine, due to the fact that said bar is limited inits upward movement by the stop 94, so as not to collide with the forward edges of the various handles on the carriage.

'The usual line-lock release-key 105 and the ribbon-color shift-keys 106 project through the opening in the front wall 53, said opening being so formed as to clear said. line-lock release-key and the ribbon-color shift-keys, and thus avoiding the necessity of removing the ribbon-color shift-key when the casing is slid over the machine.

The casing maybe lined with any suitable sound-deadening material, such as felt.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the im rovements may be used without others.

'aving thus described my invention, I claim:

,1. In combination, a base which may be used in a drop-head typewriter desk, a typewriting machine mounted on said base, a

fastening said casing to said base to prevent rearward movement of said casing on said base when the latter is tilted rearwardly, and means within the casing for preventing movement of the machine relative thereto.

2. In combination, a base which may be used in a drop-head typewriter desk, a type- \\'riting 1nachine mounted on said base, asexual-deadening casing mounted on said base and enclosing said machine, and means for fastening said casing to said base to prevent movement of said casing away from said base when the latter is tilted rearwardly, said means comprising releasable latching means mounted on the base and engaging the casing.

3. In combination, a base which may be used in a drop-head typewriter desk, a type-- writing machine mounted on said base, a sound-deadening casing mounted on said base and enclosing said machine, means for fastening said casing to said base to prevent movement of said casing away from said base when the latter is tilted rearwardly, said means comprising lugs mounted on said base, one at each side of said casing, and a. pin fixed to each side of said casing and engageable by the co-operating lugs to lock the casing against movement away from the base.

4. In combination, a base which may be used in a drop-head typewriter desk, a typewriting machine mounted on said base, a sound-deadening casing mounted on said base and enclosing said machine, and means for fastening said casing to said base to prevent rearward movement of said casing on said base when the latter is tilted rearwardly, said means comprising brackets fixed to said base and engaging the rear of said casing.

In combination, a base which may be used in a drop-head typewriter desk, a typewriting machine mounted on said base, a sound-deadening casing mounted on said base and enclosing said machine, said casing having a body part and a cover, said body part having a rear opening large enough to permit passage of the machine therethrough and into said casing, so that said casing may he slid on said machine from the front thereof, a removable back plate for closing the rear opening in the body part, and means for fastening said casing to said base to prevent rearward movement of said casing on said base when the latter is tilted rearwardly, said means comprising brackets fixed to said baseand engaging the rear of the body part of the casing outside the limits of the removable back plate, so as not to interfere with the mounting or removal of said plate.

6. In combination, a base which may be used in a drop-head typewriter desk, a type writing machine mounted on said base, a

sound-deadening casing mounted on said base and enclosing said machine, means for fastening said casing to said base to prevent movement of the casing away from the base, and means for preventing rearward movement of the casing on said base when the latter is tilted rearwardly.

7. In combination, a base which may be used in a drop-head typewriter desk, a type writing machine mounted on said base, a sound-deadening easing mounted on said base and enclosing said machine, means for fastening said casing to said base to prevent movement of the casing away from the base, and means for preventing rearward movement of the casing on said base when the latter is tilted rearwardly, said fastening means comprising devices mounted on the base and engaging the sides of the casing, said last-named means comprising devices fixed to said base and engaging the rear of said casing.

8. In combination, a base which maybe used in a drop-head typewriter desk, a typewriting machine provided with supporting feet and mounted on said base, a sounddeadening casing mounted on said base and enclosing said machine, means for fastening said casing to said base to prevent rearward movement of said casing thereon when the base is tilted rearwardly, means for positioning the typewriting machine on said base, said last-named means comprising cups fixed to said base for receiving said typewriter feet, and means for preventing the movement of said machine relative to said casing.

9. In combination, a base which may be used in a drop-head typewriter desk, a. typewriting machine provided with supporting feet and mounted on said base, a sound-deadening casing mounted on said base and enclosing said machine, means for fastening said casing to said base to prevent movement of said casing thereon when the base is tilted rearwardly, means for positioning the typewriting machine on said base, said lastnamed means comprising cups fixed to said base for receiving said typewriter feet, and means for preventing the movement of said machine relative to said casing, said lastnamed means comprising abutments fixed to the front and rear of said casing and engaging the front and rear of said machine.

10. The combination with a hood for a typewriting machine and a base therefor which may be part of a drop-head desk, of guide-bars to locate the hood on said base, fingers at the forward ends of said guide-bars, and pins projecting laterally from said hood to engage under said fingers to hold the machine on the base when the latter is tilted rearwardly,

11. The combination of a base-board, a pad thereon, depressed seats in said pad, a typewritingmachine having feet resting in said seats, guideways upon said pad at the sides of the typewriting machine, a soundconfining casing enclosing said machine and confined by said guideways, a rest or stop engaging the back of the casing and secured to said base-board, means to prevent the front of the casing from being lifted, and means Within the casing to locate the typewriting machine relatively thereto.

12. The combination of a base-board, a pad thereon, depressed seats in said pad, a typewriting machine having feet resting in said seats, guideways upon said pad at the sides of the typewriting machine, a sound-confining casing enclosing said machine and confined by said guideways, a rest or stop engaging the back of the casing and secured to said base-board, means to prevent the one of said guideways engaging said projection and preventing forward displacement of the casing.

13. The combination of a base-board, a pad thereon, depressed seats in said pad, a typewriting machine having feet resting in said seats, guideways upon said pad at the sides of the typewriting machine, a soundconfining casin enclosing said machine and confined by sai guideways, a rest or stop engaging the back of the casing and secured to said base-board, means to revent the front of the casing from being lifted, and means JOHN WALDHEIM.

Witnesses:

EDITH B. LIBBEY, JENNIE P. THORNE. 

